SUPPORTING CHILDREN’S RIGHTS. Members of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao parliament join children in a photo opportunity following the conduct of a special session by regional lawmakers that centered on their support for children’s rights. BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim led parliament members in passing a resolution expressing their commitment to protect and promote the rights of children and address pressing children’s issues in the region. (Photo courtesy of the office of BARMM MP Zia Alonto Adiong)
COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Wednesday expressed commitment to focus on children’s issues as it joined to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the most recognized human rights treaty in the world.
On the same day, members of the BARMM parliament took time to allow a special session in response to the children’s declaration of advocating for better education, an end to poverty and hunger, lasting peace, more parenting programs and increased participation in finding solutions to issues that affect them.
United Nations (UN) data indicate that Bangsamoro children are among the poorest in the country and are left behind under all major indicators of development, such as the region having the highest child poverty rate at is highest at 63.percent, which is twice as high as the national average at 31 percent.
The same data showed that 1.6 million out of 2.5 million children in BARMM are living below the poverty line, with an estimated 60,000 children are not in school, and only one in five children from those enrolled complete elementary education.
Every year, some 400,000 adolescents in the region do not attend school due to poverty.
Around 300,000 children below the age of 5 or one in two children are also chronically malnourished and stunted, compared to one in three children stunted nationwide.
Due to lack of access to basic child medical care, less than 30 percent of infants are only fully vaccinated for immunization, with 70 percent of children deprived of having access to ample hygiene due to lack of toilets at home and over 30 percent of schools as having no toilets at all.
“Almost 30 years after the Philippines ratified the CRC, far too many children are still left behind, particularly in BARMM,” said Karin Hulshof, UNICEF regional director for East Asia and Pacific.
UNICEF stands for United Nations Children's Fund, formerly called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, an agency that administers programs to aid education and child and
maternal health in developing countries.
“The CRC, in its 30th year, is about building on the gains to address the unfinished business. It is about reinvigorating the efforts to end disparities and deprivations children continue to suffer,” Hulshof added.
The BARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, and Basilan, the cities of Lamitan, Marawi, and Cotabato, and 63 villages in six towns of North Cotabato.
Meanwhile, BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim, for his part, has committed to protect and promote the rights of children and address pressing children’s issues.
“We are for it,” Ebrahim said in an interview by reporters here at the sidelines of the celebration.
Ebrahim, together with the majority members of the Bangsamoro parliament passed Resolution No. 147, giving full support to the Bangsamoro children’s rights declaration.
The resolution reiterated provisions from the Bangsamoro Organic Law that states: “Bangsamoro policies and programs shall take into utmost consideration the best interest of children and promote the rights of children, youth and adolescents, including their survival and development. The Bangsamoro government and its constituent local government units shall provide for adequate funding and effective mechanisms for the implementation of this policy.”
Business leaders, religious leaders, diplomatic missions, the media, non-government organizations, civil society organizations, as well as all the five governors of the BARMM provinces also made their pledges in support of the children’s declaration.
“The special parliamentary session is a firm step to change what is business as usual,” said Hulshof, adding that everyone should see that children and youth are given the rightful space to have their say on what they envision. (PNA)
